Pics from Pine Grove, CO and Crystal Lake

Leona has shared photos with you.

			I was enjoying the scenery so much I didn't take that many pics, but here are the one I did take. - Leona
	Crystal Lake and Pine, CO (1 album)
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My Next Travel Nursing adventure

Hello, everyone.

Wow! I can't believe I've been in Denver for 2 months now. My recruiter called me this week to ask where I want to go next. I'm still enjoying travel nursing. Best vacation to ever have. Work 3 days, and play for 4. Of course, since it's getting closer for me to leave, and I need to save for my trip to my parents, I'm working 4 days and sightseeing a little on the other 3 days. After Denver, I'm going to meet up with my parents on 12/16 in Sedona, AZ for a week, then make our way up to Vegas. I should be at my next assignment on Jan 9. Sorry I haven't put anymore pics up yet. It's still in my camera. I haven't done much sightseeing since my parents went back home few weeks back.

My friend Cesilia and I went to Crystal Lake, close to Pine Grove, CO, last week. It was nice. Calm and beautiful. What made the trip more entertaining was Pine Grove. You've heard people say "if you blink, you'll miss it."? Well, we did. We saw the sign "Welcome to Pine Grove, Pop:? ," saw a couple buildings, then "Thanks for coming." Well..., not exactly like that, but their volunteer fire department was a cabin, and their Restaurant& Bar was also their liquor store. The best one yet was their gas station that you'll have to see for yourself when I download the pics. All in all, if you love the quiet mountain terrain and love to live life outdoors, this is the best place to be. Not far from hiking/biking trails or the ski resorts. The ONE restaurant they have there is pretty good as well. If you ever find yourself in Pine Grove, CO, check out Zokas Restaurant & Bar.

Right now, it's time to decide where to go next. I've been going back and forth on where to go to next after Denver for months now, then decided to just be still and hear where the Lord wants me to go next. (I'd rather go where the Lord is during my travel nursing adventures, than going on my own. Safer that way) I guess the next destination is Austin, TX. I don't know why, but I'm going.

My niece Maria said that there's a lot of live music there, and I'll be there in the winter, so it shouldn't be that bad, right? I've been thinking about going there before to see why Maria is so eager to go back to Austin, TX, but I talked myself out of it many times.

I do miss San Diego and La Jolla Cove. In Seattle, I was surrounded by bays and Puget Sound that I wasn't that homesick. Living in the midwest area, I've noticed that there's not that many large bodies of water around to imagine I'm close to S.D., especially in Denver. Is there a lake or large river in Austin I can visit while I'm there? (I think I'm starting to whine.) I hope to return to San Diego for a few days in the spring, and maybe a little longer in the summer (3 months).

Well, that's the update for now. I'll keep you posted on where I'll work next.

Love,
Leona

To all the kids born in the 20's-70's.

I don't usually do this on my blog, but this is an absolute must to share with you. Who can relate?

Leona


First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they carried us.
They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, sour cream and didn't get tested for diabetes.
Then after that trauma, our baby cribs were covered with bright colored lead-based paints.
We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had no helmets, not to mention, the risks we took hitchhiking.
As children, we would ride in cars with no seat
belts, children's seats or air bags and we survived. We sometimes rode on car running boards and lived through it unscathed.
Riding in the back of a pick up on a warm day was always a special treat.
We drank water from the garden hose and NOT from a bottle.
We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and NO ONE actually died from this.
We ate cupcakes, white bread and real butter and drank soda pop with sugar in it, but we weren't overweight because......


WE WERE ALWAYS OUTSIDE PLAYING!!
We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.
No one was able to reach us all day. And we were O.K.
We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.
We did not have Playstations, Nintendo's, X-boxes, no video games at all, no 99 channels on cable, no video tape movies, no surround sound, no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet or Internet chat rooms..........WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!


We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.
We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.
We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks, "spaldeens," and tennis balls and although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.
We rode bikes, walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just yelled for them! Our homes and cars were unlocked during the day!


Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment. Imagine that!!
This generation has produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever!
The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas.
We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned
HOW TO
DEAL WITH IT ALL!
And YOU are one of them!

CONGRATULATIONS!
You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids, before the lawyers and the government regulated our lives for our own good and indebted us and our descendants in so doing for decades if not centuries to come.
And while you are at it, forward it to your kids so they will know how brave their parents were.
Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn't it?!